1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to an image forming apparatus capable of delivering image data, an image processing apparatus, an image processing system, an image processing method, a computer program thereof, and a recording medium having such a computer program.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, image input-output apparatuses such as multifunctional peripherals are increasingly located or connected over a network in many corporate environments. Such image input-output apparatuses have improved the work efficiency dramatically. In the image input-output apparatuses, image processing systems that can efficiently convert paper documents into electronic documents to deliver the converted electronic documents draw much attention in terms of enhancing work efficiency. Major components of the image processing system include an image input apparatus such as an image forming apparatus and an image processing server. In the image processing server, various delivery processing menus suitable for various services and applications are registered in advance. A user of the image forming apparatus selects one of the processing menus suitable for a particular service such as scanning to read a document via an operation panel (operation section) of the image forming apparatus.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2006-018640, for example, discloses an image data delivery processing technology in which an administrator combines plug-in programs to create input-conversion-output workflows and to carry out image data delivery processing based on the created input-conversion-output workflows.
However, in the above image processing system, when the user desires to deliver already converted electronic data, the user needs to print out the electronic data on paper and then scan the data printed on paper. In such image processing system, the input-conversion-output workflows already created are not used for scanning data, and hence it is not environmentally friendly and not efficient to print the electronic files on paper merely for carrying out delivery processing.